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Indianapolis Peace & Justice Center Journal, v. 27, no. 02, 2009-02

page1

Obama, a Hope for
Peace
By Yevgeny Baburin
In the midst of a downward spiraling
economy, trouble abroad and an eight year
White House legacy of secret prisons and
wire taps, many Americans are frightened
for the future. Still, upon the election
of America's first African American
President, and a turning of the page in
America's tumultuous page-turner entitled
race relations; there is hope for a brighter
future.
"We reject as false the choice between our
safety and our ideals. America is a friend
of each nation and every man. woman
and child who seeks a future of peace and
dignity," said President Barack Obama in
his inaugural address.
Since coming into office, Obama has
put a cap on the salaries of his cabinet,
began closing secret CIA prisons abroad
and removed torture as a viable tool for
information gathering. He promised to
hold America to the rules described in the
Geneva Convention.
"1 have been saying that my hopes are very
high," said former IPJC Treasurer Charlie
Wiles. "I am trying to maintain realistic
expectations.. .1 am really happy with the
way he put the Middle East and Palestine
on the front burner."
"Obama has taken the Middle East by
surprise with the speed of his diplomatic
activism," reported The Washington Post.
His appointment of George Mitchell as
the Middle East Envoy has pleased many
Middle Eastern leaders. Mitchell helped
broker peace in Northern Ireland.
As Obama's envoy plans to leave for the
Continued on page 5
Indianapolis Peace and Justice
JournaC
Volume XXVII - February 2009
Small Steps to Big Change
Hoosiers peacefully mourns the death of
Martin Luther King while other large
cities erupt in violence
By Jesse Tryon
Black History Month is a celebration
of African Americans that have made
a significant impact on American
Society, and Martin Luther King Jr. was
undoubtedly one of the most important
figures in American histoiy.
On Apr. 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr.
was assassinated from his hotel balcony in
Memphis, Tenn. In response, many urban
communities across the United States
erupted in violence. Indianapolis was not
among these cities.
It is human nature to simplify such events.
This article began as an attempt to find an
answer to this question, a pursuit to get to
the crux of why Indianapolis restrained
from violence.
Naturally, the search began with finding
any coinciding events that took place in
Indianapolis, exclusively. One such event
fit that mold: the historic speech of Robert
F. Kennedy on the assassination of King.
Kennedy arrived in Indianapolis on
a routine campaign stop shortly after
learning about King's death. Despite
recommendations from city officials
and campaign advisers to cancel his
appearance for his own safety; Kennedy
chose to inform the crowd of King's death.
The speech would go down in history
as one of Kennedy's most memorable
moments as a public leader.
According to Senior Editor of the Indiana
Historical Society Press, Ray Boomhower,
"[Kennedy] relied a lot upon his own grief
he had felt following the assassination of
his brother back in 1963. Sharing that
with the crowd was really the first time he
spoke openly about his feelings about his
brother's death." The death of Dr. King
certainly resurfaced many of the feelings
people had concerning John F. Kennedy's
death, just five years earlier. The
crowd that gathered granted the Senator
empathetic ears.
In his own research, Boomhower found
that "there was a shared experience
between the speaker and the crowd.
They took his words, what he was saying
to heart, and likened it to a religious
experience." But why didn't these words
touch those across the country in the same
manner?
'The coverage simply wasn't there. It
certainly wasn't an iPod or internet
generation," says, Senior Activist of
African American History at the Indiana
Historic Society, Wilma Moore, kit would
have had to have been a big news story."
Certainly the assassination of Martin
Luther King was a big news story, but the
local papers weren't giving a whole lot
of coverage to what was happening with
Kennedy."
If this were the case, then what had
kept the citizens of Indianapolis not in
attendance for Kennedy's speech from
taking to the streets?
"Indianapolis wasn't so predisposed toward
those kinds of disturbances, before or
Continued on page 3
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Obama, a Hope for
Peace
By Yevgeny Baburin
In the midst of a downward spiraling
economy, trouble abroad and an eight year
White House legacy of secret prisons and
wire taps, many Americans are frightened
for the future. Still, upon the election
of America's first African American
President, and a turning of the page in
America's tumultuous page-turner entitled
race relations; there is hope for a brighter
future.
"We reject as false the choice between our
safety and our ideals. America is a friend
of each nation and every man. woman
and child who seeks a future of peace and
dignity," said President Barack Obama in
his inaugural address.
Since coming into office, Obama has
put a cap on the salaries of his cabinet,
began closing secret CIA prisons abroad
and removed torture as a viable tool for
information gathering. He promised to
hold America to the rules described in the
Geneva Convention.
"1 have been saying that my hopes are very
high," said former IPJC Treasurer Charlie
Wiles. "I am trying to maintain realistic
expectations.. .1 am really happy with the
way he put the Middle East and Palestine
on the front burner."
"Obama has taken the Middle East by
surprise with the speed of his diplomatic
activism," reported The Washington Post.
His appointment of George Mitchell as
the Middle East Envoy has pleased many
Middle Eastern leaders. Mitchell helped
broker peace in Northern Ireland.
As Obama's envoy plans to leave for the
Continued on page 5
Indianapolis Peace and Justice
JournaC
Volume XXVII - February 2009
Small Steps to Big Change
Hoosiers peacefully mourns the death of
Martin Luther King while other large
cities erupt in violence
By Jesse Tryon
Black History Month is a celebration
of African Americans that have made
a significant impact on American
Society, and Martin Luther King Jr. was
undoubtedly one of the most important
figures in American histoiy.
On Apr. 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr.
was assassinated from his hotel balcony in
Memphis, Tenn. In response, many urban
communities across the United States
erupted in violence. Indianapolis was not
among these cities.
It is human nature to simplify such events.
This article began as an attempt to find an
answer to this question, a pursuit to get to
the crux of why Indianapolis restrained
from violence.
Naturally, the search began with finding
any coinciding events that took place in
Indianapolis, exclusively. One such event
fit that mold: the historic speech of Robert
F. Kennedy on the assassination of King.
Kennedy arrived in Indianapolis on
a routine campaign stop shortly after
learning about King's death. Despite
recommendations from city officials
and campaign advisers to cancel his
appearance for his own safety; Kennedy
chose to inform the crowd of King's death.
The speech would go down in history
as one of Kennedy's most memorable
moments as a public leader.
According to Senior Editor of the Indiana
Historical Society Press, Ray Boomhower,
"[Kennedy] relied a lot upon his own grief
he had felt following the assassination of
his brother back in 1963. Sharing that
with the crowd was really the first time he
spoke openly about his feelings about his
brother's death." The death of Dr. King
certainly resurfaced many of the feelings
people had concerning John F. Kennedy's
death, just five years earlier. The
crowd that gathered granted the Senator
empathetic ears.
In his own research, Boomhower found
that "there was a shared experience
between the speaker and the crowd.
They took his words, what he was saying
to heart, and likened it to a religious
experience." But why didn't these words
touch those across the country in the same
manner?
'The coverage simply wasn't there. It
certainly wasn't an iPod or internet
generation," says, Senior Activist of
African American History at the Indiana
Historic Society, Wilma Moore, kit would
have had to have been a big news story."
Certainly the assassination of Martin
Luther King was a big news story, but the
local papers weren't giving a whole lot
of coverage to what was happening with
Kennedy."
If this were the case, then what had
kept the citizens of Indianapolis not in
attendance for Kennedy's speech from
taking to the streets?
"Indianapolis wasn't so predisposed toward
those kinds of disturbances, before or
Continued on page 3
S __ 3 2
& -j & m
WADD
anapolis P
N East St.
anapolis, I
Z £ P°
* n ^
Os ° 00
g s u>
k> cu ;_:
o _^
to c
S3
rv
c,
n
o
o
ST f? ___ 2
c J? e c
nprot
.S,Po
PAI
mitN
ianap
£_ ? OSs
1. 2*